Scientists from across the world have gathered on the 'English Riviera' for south west England's first ever international medicinal and synthetic chemistry conference
More than 120 delegates - including scientists from Europe and the USA and major pharmaceutical companies - attended the event in Torquay (1-3 October) which showcased exciting new developments in pharmaceutical research linked with south west academia and companies.
The three-day gathering at the Riviera Centre was organised by three Cornish companies - Key Organics, Maybridge and Tripos Discovery Research - in association with the Royal Society of Chemistry and supported by BioApproaches South West.
The businesses - which provide key products and services to the international biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries - represent a chemistry hotspot in the UK where world-class projects are undertaken.
Together they employ about 150 scientists who are concentrated in a 10 square mile area of North Cornwall - one of the largest concentrations of chemists anywhere in the UK.
Speaking on behalf of the three companies, Stuart Cameron, from Tripos Discovery Research, also representing the Royal Society of Chemistry's biological and medicinal chemistry sector, said the conference had been a great success: "This conference has shown that you can organise a major scientific meeting in the south west of England and attract international interest.
"It also demonstrates the south west's growing reputation as a leading centre for world-class medicinal and synthetic chemistry.
"This conference has helped to promote the region as also being at the cutting edge of technological innovation".
Cameron added that there were plans to hold the event bi-annually with the next conference planned for 2008.
Lieven Meerpoel, from the Belgium-based pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, said: "The Royal Society of Chemistry is an internationally respected organisation and the conference provided a good mix of academic and commercial speakers, including some world-renowned figures.
"We have to source our synthetic compounds from the south west of England because they not as readily available in Belgium.
We already collaborate with Key Organics and Maybridge and I plan to visit Tripos Discovery Research after the conference".
Professor Jenny Littlechild, director of the University of Exeter's Biocatalysis Centre, which is at the forefront of research into enzymes and drug research, said the university continues to play a leading role in biological and medicinal chemistry in the region.
"For example, we are using enzymes from biological material to carry out chemical synthesis, using nature's catalysts to produce safer drugs in an environmentally-friendly way.
"We are also studying enzymes which are known to be involved with certain diseases to understand their three-dimensional structure and mechanism of action to help design new drugs".
She continued: "The conference has helped to reinforce the collaborative links between universities and companies within the medicinal chemistry sector, both nationally and internationally".
Professor Stan Roberts, of the University of Manchester's Centre for Catalysis which is developing environmentally-friendly ways to make new molecules for drug manufacturers, said: "The region's expertise in medicinal and synthetic chemistry is much sought after, both here in the UK and further afield.
"Many countries would give anything to have such a strong chemical industry".
He added: "We in Britain are very good at integrating the academic and commercial worlds and that's what this conference is all about - reinforcing the links and trust between the two".
The conference was co-sponsored by BioApproaches South West, a lifesciences and healthcare support organisation for the region that is funded by the South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and managed by Great Western Enterprise (GWE).
Gagan Lushai, network director of BioAproaches, said: "The north Cornish cluster of Maybridge, Key Organics and Tripos Discovery Research, provides the highest quality building blocks for international pharmaceutical companies and their new drug discoveries.
"The South West also has several distinct specialist academic clusters for world-class scientific research and should prove fertile to match medicinal chemistry needs with, for example, novel discoveries from marine science.
"The conference achieved its aim to display the world-class medicinal chemistry strengths of the South West to an international academic and commercial audience."
